Thanks for your reply, I hadn't really though of the fact that I am actually spending "cash", one automatically assumes that when paying with a "card" that you are protected.

An update on the situation, I was not getting any where with purelygadgets customer service, so I contacted ISIS as pg are accredited, I received a response from ISIS within 1 hour, and shortly after pg contacted me.

I have now been told that the item will be with me on Wednesday (tomorrow).

I suppose the items to take away from this experience are: -

1.) Always use your credit card for internet purchases

2.) Check the retailer is accredited with a recognized agency, who you can take up complaints with.

.....

And I thought internet shopping was supposed to be stress free....
 

Great points Nic ---- Also a useful warning to anyone seeking protection when buying especially online or over the phone, always use a credit card for the purchase as they carry protection against fraud, faulty goods, or non delivery etc, and you have a comeback, because you have used credit facilities to make the purchase. Even if you don't have a CC, get a relative to use their card then pay them back, or don't in my Daughter's case. : - (

A debit card has none of this inbuilt protection, and is just basically the same as you drawing the money out of your bank, then handing it to the retailer.

Hi there Gareth.

Generally, as a consumer journalist most of my working life, I'm pretty much automatically in favour of "us" against "them", particularly the big banks. However, in this case I'm sorry but I'm not clear exactly why you would expect a bank to "help" and how.

If you pay for something by cheque and it is cashed but you receive nothing, would you expect the bank to "help"?

If you went to a cash machine, withdrew £100 and bought 10 bottles of "perfume" from one of those nice men selling them out of a suitcase in the local High Street - and they turn out to be rancid rubbish, would you expect the bank to "help"?

What's so different about a debit card?

The credit card thing referred to by Barclays is specifically to do with the fact that if you paid for the goods by credit card (not debit or charge card), and the value is £100 or more, the credit card company has obligations to you, too, by virtue of S75 Consumer Credit Act 1974.

A principle known as equal liability means that both the credit card company and the supplier have the same obligations and responsibilities to you for the goods being satisfactory.

This, however, does not apply in respect of debit cards. Unfortunate but true. 

As far as Purely Gadgets is concerned, I have just looked at its site. It appears to tick a number of key boxes in terms of its "accreditation" as a safe online dealer. It is highly unusual for a fake merchant to call you back if they are intent on ripping you off.

If you look in the r/hand corner of the site, you can see that the company is a member of ISIS, which has a click-through where you can raise a complaint if you are unhappy with the dealer. The company also publishes its address on the site, as well as an 0207 phone number. Again, unusual for a rip-off business.

This looks to me to be a case of poor service/***-up. I would suggest that you pursue your complaint through ISIS and the company. If things do not progress, you should contact the local trading standards department operating in the area, which looks to me to be Tower Hamlets. You might want to inform Purely Gadgets that you intend to do that.

In future, you might also want to confine your online purchases solely to a credit card.

I recently attempted to purchase a camcorder from an internet site, I used a shopping comparison service to search for the product, which directed me to www.purelygadgets.co.uk

I entered my debit card details on their web site for the order, the company took the money on Monday (18/06/2007), I have not received the camcorder, neither have a received an order conformation or a receipt/invoice.

I have phoned the company but just get a message stating that their phone system is down.

I emailed their support address and some one from the company called me (Tuesday), they found my order and told me that it had not been entered into their ordering system from the web site, I was assured that he would do this and a conformation would be sent out. Since then I have still received nothing.

As I believe that I may have been "scammed" I contacted my bank (barclays premier account), they told me that there was nothing they/I could do as I paid with a debit card and not a credit card, surely this can't be the case, I may have been a victim of fraud and I would expect the bank to help me out with this.

So, is it the case that if you/me use our debit card on the net and we get scammed then that's just tough luck?